Deceptive Normalcy
by Pokemang
Summary: Hilda has moved on in life since her adventures through Unova. But what happens when a familiar face comes to call and stirs old feelings? FerrisWheelShipping. Rated M for possible adult themes in future chapters.
1. Heaven Hide Your Eyes

_"But the deep blue screams_  
_Of falling dreams_  
_With our next move_  
_Heaven hide your eyes_  
_Heaven's eyes will never dry"_

-"_The Promise_" by _Arcadia_

* * *

The scent of Oran berries pervaded the air, floating on clouds of steam. Hilda ran her shampoo-coated fingers through lengths of luxurious, mahogany hair and felt cleaner than she had in days. After spending nearly a week roughing it in the middle of Pinwheel Forest, she'd been reminded just how much she took things like hot showers and warm beds for granted. She'd nearly passed out upon returning home the previous day.

Hilda had loved the time she'd spent just painting in a natural, leaf-shaded studio in spite of her lack of easily accessible amenities. She had gone in with blank canvases and pages of drawing paper and left with armloads of paintings, a nearly full sketch book and a considerably diminished store of acrylics and pencils. Hilda felt accomplished but had been quick to find her way to her coffee pot and cushy bed.

Hilda gave a twist of the shower tap before stepping out from behind the flower-print curtain and gathered her towel from the hook on the wall. Though a small bathroom had been difficult to adjust to, Hilda had learned to work with what she could afford. Her profession paid for a one bedroom and bathroom apartment and nothing more.

She emerged in a dark grey pencil skirt and a white short sleeved blouse and let out a gust of air, attempting to move quickly drying locks of hair out of her eyes. She went into the kitchen and poured herself a steaming cup of coffee before flicking on the television.  
"...and the shadow remains unidentified. And now for today's forecast. Tanya?"

Hilda half paid attention as she dug into a meager breakfast of a tomato sandwich. She needed to go grocery shopping. Bread was low.

"...Cloudy with an eighty percent chance of precipitation in the late afternoon and it will persist until well into the early morning..."

Hilda checked the time and polished off her coffee and wolfed down her breakfast before heading back into her bathroom to continue her morning routine.

She wore a nostalgic smile at her choice of eye shadow. Tea green had been her favourite colour since she was sixteen. She dabbed it over her upper lids and touched up her lip gloss. Exciting yet muted make up accented her face. Hilda wore the summer sky in her eyes and a soft round visage brimming with rose coloured cheeks. She looked youthful and tastefully so. A pair of clear green-tinted beads dangled from each ear. She flicked off the television as she pulled her waving lengths of pseudo-curls into a relaxed bun held up by a silver claw clip. Hilda slid stocking clad feet into a pair of beige low-heeled shoes, claimed her briefcase and keys from the counter and paused to tuck a lime coloured umbrella under her arm.

* * *

Life in Castellia city never failed to keep Hilda on the move. Though she strived to keep art alive in her life, her plans to make her living from it had fizzled out quickly. She'd attended to her education (with her share of academic bumps and blips) and graduated with high enough marks to land her an office job. A former champion of the Unova Pokemon League, a heroine who'd fought alongside Elite Four members and Gym leaders, the master-though she preferred to refer to herself as a 'friend'- of one of two Pokemon from the legendary stories every child knew...was a secretary. Instead of indulging in the fame she could have derived from her positive press, Hilda had waited for the hype to pass.

While she'd still get the odd nod of recognition, it was shadow of her former celebratism. She prefered to lead an ordinary life though a look of longing would pass over her gaze at the sight of energetic young trainers seeking their dreams of adventure and strength.

"Good morning, Hilda." a buisness suit clad man greeted as the slender receptionist flashed a sunny smile from behind her desk

"Morning, Alistair." The brunette nodded.

The sandy haired businessman smiled back, accentuating his laugh lines. Her wore a grey suit with a black tie and carried a breifcase. Like Hilda, a Xtranseiver was strapped to his wrist. He clutched a travel mug, dented on the bottom from repeated use in his left hand.  
"Is the meeting with the Silph Co. representatives at ten or eleven today?"  
Hilda chewed her lower lip as she clicked a window and typed in her co-workers name in. After bringing up his schedule and giving it a quick once over she returned to her previous task.  
"Eleven."

"You are fantastic, you life saver you." he chuckled, visibly relaxing. Hilda flashed him a cheeky, toothy grin

"Someone's got to keep you organised."

Alistair laughed and shook his head

"So true, so true." he headed for the elevator and waved back at Hilda.

Hilda took a break from her monotonous slew of tasks and stretched. She found her eyes drawn to an office plant near the glass double doors of the building.  
The lobby felt abandoned, quiet. The plant was a beautiful green, a natural colour that made her think of Pinwheel Forest again. But there was another stripe of lighter green along the leaves that brought to mind a memory of highly intelligent but naive eyes, so haunting and captivating that had never failed to ensnare her at every meeting. Hilda recalled a chaotic shock of hair the same vibrant green, falling in an oddly elegant ponytail down a broad back and long, gangly limbs that reached closer for her. Hilda's expression shifted to something indiscernible.

_"He never did understand personal boundaries."_

It was strange that she was thinking of him now. It had been a good eight years since he'd left, giving her only whispers of a young man and a great draconic Pokemon appearing in the skies over a myriad foreign regions scattered through out the vast world. She'd come to terms with the miniscule likelihood that she'd ever see him again and managed to moved on. So why now? A memory of that mornings' newscast resurfaced, a mere fragment of partially formed memory.

Hilda yelped as her thoughts were abruptly cut short by the shrill call of a ringing phone which she promptly answered. As the familiar drone of a man blabbered on in her ear, Hilda scrawled down a note and watched the priliminary droplets of rain shed from the cloud-engulfed sky onto the asphalt outside.

_"...And the shadow remains unidentified."_

* * *

_**AN/ I decided that I wanted to actually take an idea and roll with it. So here's my attempt at doing more than just short drabbles. Hopefully I'll actually keep this thing updated OTL**_


	2. Waiting for the Sound of Thunder

_"Here I am I'm a dotted line cut in through corners stick me through your door_  
_I'm the man who stepped off the path_  
_Am I just lying here that's what I was made for"_

_"Waiting for the Sound of Thunder" _by _Duran Duran_

* * *

Sheeting rain transformed the city streets into a watery, grey mirror like the surface of a storm-colour swollen with slow moving traffic.

Hilda followed the ever shifting crowds of people and Pokemon as they crawled and jogged in near-panic to escape the torrential deluge of storm water, drenching everything in sight.

For a moment, she recalled Chargestone Cave as a bolt of lightening split the sky with its booming crack. A Pidove in the clutches of a young freckled boy protested, a mirror of its trainer. Both pokemon and boy seemed so connected. They needed no words to communicate thier mutual requirement for comfort. They provided each other company and seemed to calm each other's discomfort from the snarling thunder.

The colour green snapped Hilda out of her nostalgic stupor. The woman found herself walking a bit faster to see him. Hilda's face relaxed and she frowned, quickly avoiding the young teenager's confused gaze. She found herself disapointed. It wasn't him. She kept thinking of him after years of confience that she was over it. She clutched the handle of her umbrella tighter and kept her eyes uncharacteristically downward in emotional calculation.

* * *

A hollow knocking on the window pane roused a sleeping mass of mauve fur. Freya lifted her head and glanced around groggily, red-tipped ears swiveling to locate the source of the noise. The knocking sounded again. She scampered out into the living room and spotted a tall shadow standing on the balcony. The Zoroark gave a growl and bared her claws and teeth.

"Don't be scared, my friend."

Freya recalled that soothing, level tone, elegant, quick and articulate, yet edged with the quiet whimsy of a timid child. She paused and sniffed the air and gave a whine before scampering over to the sliding-glass door. She unlatched the lock in a way that indicated practice. The tall sillouette stepped inside, dripping wet and illuminated by flashing lightening. The metallic call of a great dragon echoed throughout the entire city block.

"It's you." the Zoroark spoke with a note of masked eagerness, though the spark in her excuberant eyes was unmistakable.

* * *

The cry of a Pokemon snapped Hilda's head upward, blue eyes reflecting near black horizons as she watched a fearsome being disappear into the storm clouds. Where did she know that sound? Or that shape that had been a mere blur, visible for only a moment? Hilda felt a shiver from the raw power still crackling wildly and electrifying the air. Fear was palpable to many on the street corner and it became obvious who was a Pokemon trainer and who wasn't. Hilda was amongst those baring determination and bravery, her hand instinctually reaching for a Pokeball that was not there on her hip.

Hilda decided it best to hurry.

The elevator ride felt like an agonizing eternity. Something felt strange and it sent her instincts into a frenzy. Hilda worried for her Pokemon. After all, her Samurott, Shin hated thunderstorms and with good reason. She pursed her lips and made a mental note to ensure he got a good snack and some much needed snuggle time. She'd only been able to bring three of her team mates with her when moving out. Freya was a helpful and protective girl, Shin, prideful but a loyal friend. Her Gardevoir, Amélie, was an organized and spirited Pokemon with enough grace to spare.

Immediate concern spurred her walking to shift to jogging. Hilda slipped off her heels and started to run. A rumble of thunder shook the sky and resonated in her core as she fumbled with her keys. Another crash split the air and all the lights went out. The sound of audible gasps from both humans and Pokemon alike muffled by apartment walls drifted through the deserted hallway. Hilda bit her cheeks and cursed silently and managed to finally unlock her door.

She stepped inside her apartment and closed the door behind her with a click before letting her briefcase, shoes and sopping wet coat fall carelessly to the ground.

"I'm home. Shin? Do you need some snuggling?" Hilda offered in a gentle, friendly tone. It was not condescending and suggested mutual respect. No answer. Hilda frowned, her brows dipping in a deep furrow.

"…Shin?"

Hilda walked in further through the suffocating darkness of her apartment. She gasped lightly when she saw something move on the couch.

"…Shin? Is that you? "

The lights flickered back on and sure enough, there were all three of her Pokemon nestled together on the couch. Hilda sighed deeply in relief.

Hilda felt something behind her. She felt something brush up against her back and when she turned around sharply, Hilda was met with tea green eyes, watching her intently.

Hilda screamed.

* * *

_**AN/ OH SHIT CREEPER!N IN HER APARTMENT! What will our plucky heroine do now? Obviously a sloppy make out session will ensue.**_

…_**I'm totally kidding.**_


End file.
